Spring is very much in the air and things are starting to get interesting in the glasshouse - already there’s competition for space on the benches and the heated mat in particular. I’m enjoying the morning and evening check-ins with the glasshouse to gauge progress - seeing what’s germinated, getting the seed trays watered and generally fussing about.

In the evening time I cover the seed trays over with a sheet of plastic to keep the heat in, and then take it off again in the morning so things don’t get too steamy during the day. The weather has warmed up too and as I write this it’s a glorious afternoon - the dog is toasting himself in the sun on the deck lying on his back with his paws in the air. All of nature seems pleased with itself. The warmer weather has helped with germination in the glasshouse - already I am seeing the first of the tomatoes germinating which is always a joy, and French beans sowed last weekend have already erupted from their tray. Imagine, this much growth in one week!

I had a busy weekend of seed sowing last weekend. As well as the tomatoes that I wrote about last week, I sowed French beans, courgettes, lettuce, celery and celeriac all in trays and pots; but also some things direct in the soil in the small polytunnel - potatoes, peas, beans and oriental greens (rocket, mizuna, mustard etc). In the big tunnel I notice that weeds are starting to germinate - a good sign of warming soil.

Though there are still some things to eat from the garden (sprouting broccoli, kale, perpetual cabbage, salads etc, now also joined by rhubarb), we’re approaching serious hungry gap territory and the job now is to try and make the gap as short as possible. Ideally you want the first new season crops arriving in mid-late May which would make the hungry gap about two months long - that’s long enough.

Having a polytunnel really helps with this of course and on top of the salad leaves that should be available more or less all year round in the tunnel, I try to have early crops of onions, potatoes, beets, courgettes, beans and peas. A tunnel is an incredible asset, particularly because it lengthens the growing season in this way, creating a little corner of the Mediterranean in my garden.

A master skill that you learn as a grower (often the hard way) is that when it comes to sowing seed under cover it doesn’t really matter what the weather is like at the time - what matters is what the weather will be like when you’re planting out the seedlings in 4-6 weeks time. So with courgettes and French beans for example, it would be much too early to start them off from seed even though they will probably germinate fine, because it will be too cold outside to plant them out in a months time. But if they are being planted out in to a tunnel, then you can and should get started now.

I grow my climbing French beans in the polytunnel every year, and if you get them started early you can enjoy new season beans by the end of May all going well. You can grow French beans outside of course, but I just find they do so much better in the warmth of the tunnel, and because they can be frozen so successfully I don’t bother succession sowing them - a single sowing around now gives us more than enough French beans to enjoy fresh for a few months from May onwards and then freeze the rest to enjoy right through the year and in to next year. They are incredibly prolific in the tunnel, growing right up to the supporting crop bars (well over 10 ft) so a single row of about 10-12 plants is usually enough for us. That tray of bean seedlings you see in the photo above is the entire crop.

I do succession sow peas on the other hand - with an early sowing in the tunnel and then a second one outside next month. The same applies with courgettes - I sowed them last weekend to get say 2-3 plants for planting out in the tunnel in a months time which should give us little fingerling courgettes in late May or early June; but I will also do a later sowing in May for outside in the garden. Because courgette plants can really take over in the polytunnel over the summer, I will be ruthless and remove the early-sown plants from the tunnel once the plants outside in the garden start to produce.

Potatoes will be sown outside soon enough - after Paddy’s Day - but I sowed a small number of them in the tunnel last weekend also which should be ready about 3-4 weeks before the outside ones. The beetroot I sowed some weeks back will also be ready for planting out in the tunnel in a few weeks time giving us an early crop of baby beets too (see below pic).

Finally, we’ve already been eating the baby onions that I sowed last winter in the big tunnel as spring onions, but some of these will also be left to grow on for an early crop of proper onions in April and May.

Recipe of the Week – Potato and Chickpea Masala

This recipe from the potato.ie website puts potatoes center stage in a classic masala and can be prepped and cooked in under half an hour. The spinach doesn’t have to be baby leaf – if you have your own home-grown spinach, you could chop it before adding instead. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 900g Maris Piper or Rooster potatoes, peeled and cubed

• 1 tin of chickpeas, drained

• 3tbsp masala curry paste

• 1tbsp garam masala

• 2 onions, sliced

• 2tbsp sunflower oil

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1tbsp fresh grated ginger

• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

• 1 tin of coconut milk

• Large handful baby spinach

• 1 tbsp fresh chopped coriander

Directions:

In a large pan or casserole pot gently cook the onion for 5 minutes in the sunflower oil. Next add the garlic, ginger, garam masala and curry paste, continue cooking for 3 minutes over a medium heat. Now add the potatoes and chickpeas and give them a stir in the lovely spices making sure everything is coated.

Pour in the tinned tomatoes and coconut milk and bring to a steady simmer. At this stage add a little salt and milled pepper. Continue cooking until the potatoes are soft. If the sauce feels a little dry just add a little water.

Just before serving stir in the spinach and coriander and serve with yoghurt.